Sewer cleaner



June 14, 1960 K. J. KOLLMANN SEWER CLEANER Filed Jan. 26, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. KARL J. KOLLMANN June 14, 1960 Filed Jan. 26, 1956 K. J. KOLLMANN SEWER CLEANER .5 Sheets-Sheet 2 4-5 I 28 78 a a a 37 I l 1 2 :1! 23 69 M 32 l l 22 I2 U 7 FIG. 2

INVENTOR.

KARL J. KOLLMANN 0M KM 2,940,099 SEWER CLEANER Karl J. Kollmann, 540 Evans St., Erie, Pa.

Filed Jan. 26, 1956, Ser. No. 561,457

8 Claims. (Cl. 15-1043) This invention relates to sewer cleaning machines.

Machines for rotating sewer snakes made according to previous designs are cumbersome and very diflicult to transport and to use. Further, sewer machines made according to prior designs do not provide means for properly disengaging the driving means from the cable and for stopping the rotation of the cable when the cable tends to snarl or to twist.

it is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a a sewer cleaning machine which overcomes the difiiculties encountered in previous machines and, more particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide a machine which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and simple and elficient to use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sewer cleaning machine wherein the motor drive can be rapidly disconnected from the snake and a braking mechanism on the machine can be applied to the snake to stop its rotation.

With theabove and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

in the drawings: 7

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a sewer cleaning machine according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the sewer cleaning machine showing parts thereof partly in longitudinal cross section with the forward split end of the snake guide broken away for better illustration of the chuck parts;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal cross sectional view of the snake container mechanism of the device; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 1 taken from another point.

Now with more specific reference to the drawings, a sewer cleaning machine 10 is shown having a housing 11 with a motor 14 attached thereto. The motor 14 has an end shield 13 which attaches to a flange 12 on the housing 11. A shaft'22 has a bevelled gear 21 fixed thereto by a set screw 23 which rotates the bevel gear 21 having teeth which in turndrive a ring gear 19 which is attached to a sleeve 18 by a set screw 20. Thesleeve 18 is carried by a bearing 17 which is supported in a boss 15 inside the housing 11. A grease fitting 139 is provided to lubricate the sleeve 18. The sleeve 18 terminates at the inner end in a threaded portion 24 which is adapted to threadably engage a nut 25 which has a bore having an outwardly flaring portion 26 on the inner end adapted to engage a complementary sloping surface on clamping jaws 27. The clamping jaws 27 are made in three segments which are disposed to form a hollow split member tapering inwardly at each end at 26 and 37. The member 27 has ahelical spring 128 which United States Patent urges it out of engagement with a tubular spindle or snake guide 53 when it passes therethrough.

A sleeve 28 is rotatably supported on a bearing 30 and the bearing 30 is carried in a non-rotatable sleeve 29 which is free to slide axially and has rack teeth 31 on the lower edge thereof. The rack teeth 31 are engaged by a gear 32 which freely rotates in a bore in a boss 33 and is operated by the handle on the machine 19. When the gear 32 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, the outwardly flared surface 35 of the sleeve 28 engages a surface 37 on the clamping jaws 27 and urges the clamping jaws 27 into engagement with the tapered surface 26. Since the clamping jaws 27 are restrained from forward motion by the nut 25, they are squeezed together, thereby forming a lock and clamping it down on the spindle 53. The spindle 53 is in turn slotted at the end at 137 defining two end segments so that the end thereof will be squeezed and, therefore, close on the cable or snake therein and it clamps the cable which is contained in a container 13'1 to rotate the container 131 and the cable therein. If a snake having the same diameter as the outside diameter of the end 137 of the spindle 53 is inserted instead of the container 131 and small snake, the clamping jaws 27 will clamp directly on the snake and spin it.

The container 131 is made of thin sheet metal and has the spindle 53 attached theretoat 38 by means of rivets 39. The spindle 53 is carried in a block 55 by means of a bearing 6' and is freely rotatable therein.

A collar 69 is fixed to the spindle 53 and rotates therewith. The block 55 has an overhanging lug 64 which overiies a cylindrical extension 63 on the housing 11 which is received therein at 62. The snake may be made of a helically twisted wire and is preferably curled up around an inner-surface 42 and the end thereof extends through the hollow spindle 53 and out through the front end at 43 so it may be pulled out freely when the lever attached to the gear 32 is disengaged.

The entire container 131 and the block 55 may be removed by lifting a pin '45, thereby pulling an end 46 thereof out of the hole in the extension 63. The container 131. with the hollow spindle 53 may then be pulled out away from the motor 14 and casing with the cable and a larger sized cable having the approximate outside diameter equal to the outside diameter of the spindle 53 may be substituted therefor so that the machine has the dual purpose of handling a small cable or snake in the container 131 through the spindle 53 or handling a large sized cable or snake alone.

In operation, the operator will'put a coil of cable in the container 131 by feeding it back through the spindle 53 with the end projecting through the outer end of the spindle 53. He will then insert the spindle 53 through the opening in the sleeve 28 and put theblock 55 onto the cylindrical housing extension 63 and allow the pin 45 to snap into place. He will then start the motor '14 which will start the gear 19 rotating and rotate the sleeve 18. Then with the movement of the handle to give the gear 32 a counterclockwise rotation, the sleeve 28 will be urged forward,.squeezing the driver jaws'27 into engagement with the tapered surface 26 and causing the tapered jaws 27 to clamp on the outer periphery of the spindle 53 or on the snake if a large snake alone is used. The motor 14- will spin the container 131 and the snake therein to rotate the snake and thereby cause it to remove obstructions from pipes or the like. The handle can be released to allow the split jaws 27 to disengage the cable or the spindle 53 and the cable can be manually pulled forward another length to have it inserted into the pipe.

If a sudden snarl occurs in the snake, the handle can be moved in the opposite direction to rotate the gear 32in a-clockwise directioir'which will pull the collar 69 whichis fixed to the spindle 53 back into engage ment with the forward surface of the block 55, thereby 1 applying a braking action'to the spindle 53 and the supported onsaid-housing, asewer snake sailed in said container and -having -anend extending from the axial .ce'nterof said container through said snake engaging means and from'said housing, means to engage said which an exclu seem 1 said second tubular member being movable with said 1 h rack" member toward *andaway from said "means for rotating said tubular snake :guide, said means for rotating said tubularsnake guide comprising a split sleeve having inwardly tapering ends, one engageable with said first tubular member flared end and the other engageable with that of said second tubular member, said split sleeve being urged togdtheritosclamp it on said snake guide to lock saidsnake totsaidttubular members where snake engaging meanssto urge'it into'engageme'nt with f' said snake, motor meansto rotate-said snake engaging j rn'eans and a collar member fixed to said container con- "oentr-ic to -said -snake,- and brake means supported on j ,said housing comprising a member movable on said snake en'gagingmeans to selectively engagesaid collar member i-stop said snake from rotation; said brake means and] said snake engaging' means being connected Wherebyt'said snake -engaging means is released from said brlakeirneans isengaged. 5' 7 a ZJ 'iI hemachine recited inclaim -1 wherein said snake engaging means comprises aspl-it sleeve. j

- ;'=3. The machine recited in claim l-wherein said snake uengaging means comprises a tubular snake guide on' said 'container,- one end of said tubular snake guide being split and -adapte'dto be squ'eezed'into engagement with said snake.

' 4J The machinerecited inclaim 3'wherein'said collar member is -'attached to said snake guide.

'5. Incombination, a'-machine-for rotating a'sewer snake and a-sewersnake comprising a housing having a tubular -mernber rotatably supported therein; means With saidtlibUIar member; gear means' to move said rack jme'mber toward and away from said-flaredend' ofjsaid 'to-rotatably-support said snake guide in alignment with said tubular-memberwith said snake extending through said snake when 1 by said snake is rotatedwith said tubular members.

7. in combination ;ag machinenfor; rotating :a sewer snake and a sewer snake comprising a .housing having a tubular=member-rotatably"supportedtherein, means attached to said-tnbulaiz memberifor rotating it, one end of said tubular member being flared,' means supported on said housing in alignment with said tubular member, means to move said means on said housing toward and away from said tubular member a snake container havin *said-snakethereirr and extending out 'throughsaid tubulalfjm emberrmeans'to engage and rotatesaid snake and 'said -containeru'pon beingjrn'oved by said means on said housinginto-cngafgement'with'said flared endiof said tubularanemberybrake means on "sa-id'machine .to stop said snake from "rotating, jandmeans .to' engage said brake means upon' movement of iSQid' snake engaging 7 means and saidrotatingjmeanst out"ofg'engagement with snid -flared"end ofsaiditubular'member.

7 attached to said tubularmember'forrotating it, one end of -said -tubular member beingfflaredya rack member nonrot-atably supported in' said housing inalignmen-t 8. Amachine for rotating a 'sewersnake' comprising a housinghaving a first and a second tubular member supported in saidihousing' inalignmentwith each other, spacedfrom each other, and having their bores: flared on opposite ends, a split. sleeve between said tubular members having -a boreimalignmenf with" the bores of V said: tnbnlar'membersgsaid sleeveihaving tapered ends 35 -'engagi-ngsaid flard ends: and being adapted: to be'compressed by said-tubular members,a hollow'rack' member 'non-rotatably supported and slidable axially' of' said tubular. --members in sa'id housing rotatably supporting said'second tubular member, a' tubular snake guide having a split end defining-two end segments concentrically disposed insaid'secondttubular'member "and said split sleeve, meansto' 'rnove' said-rack member in afirst direction to urge saidsecon'd tubular member toward said first tubular membertocompresssaid-sleeve and *force saidsplit end segments'to causether'n'to grip a'snake; m'eansfor supporting a coiled snake'on said snake guide, means on said snake guide to engage said rackmember'to'stop rotation thereof when said rack *is m'o'ved; in a second said tubular -rnember and said snake guide, means to engage said snake gnide'to rotate it upon movement of said rack member in a first direction to'bring said means for rotatingsaid snake guide into engagement with said flared end of'said' tubular member, and'means' to stop said snake guide from rotating upon movement of said rack rnember in the opposite direction and means on saidmachine for binding said snake within said snake guide for-rotating therewith.

-6LjThe combination recited claim '5 wherein. a

second tubulajr member is-rotatably' supported'in a sleeve carriedby said rackmemberand has a flared end opposed-to*-thefflfied"endv of-said -firs't tubular member,

direction, and means to-rotate 'said'rfir'st tubular member.

-swede "ru es, 1942' 

